Washing machine package



R E P O Q C R am WASHING MACHINE PACKAGE Filed April 18, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 nann lam/4B0 x9. (Too/=59 June g, 3%48.

' Filed April 18, 1945 L. R. COOPER 2,4423%4 WASHING MACHINE PACKAGE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 llllHl Egg).

5 /J I/ /0 UH I itH WIII F1 F1 24 [RA E ZQF LEON/948D E. Coo/ 52 June 8, 1948'.

L. R. COOPER WASHING MACHINE PACKAGE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 18, 1945 [Hz E27 far I gamma E. C'ooPae Jame 1948. L. R. CQOPER wasnme MACHINE-"P CKAGE Filed April 18, 1945 4 Sheet Ls-Sheet 4 I EVEN/Ur LEON/9E0 E! (bans-g Patented June 8, i948 WASG MACHINE PACKAGE Leonard It. Cooper, St. JoseplnMich assignor to Nineteen Hundred Eorporatlon, St. Joseph, Mich, a corporation of New York Application April 18, 1945, Serial No. 588,900

1 Claim. (Cl. 206-46) This invention relates to shipping devices and more particularly to a shipping crate which is particularly adapted for the shipping of apparatus such as washing machines, wringers, ironers, refrigerators and the like.

An object of this invention is to provide a relatively simple lightweight shipping crate in which parts thereof may be readily salvaged after each shipment, but in which the largest part of the crate, namely the wall, may be disposed of without the necessity of returning the same to the shipper.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a shipper which has a wall of a material which in itself is incapable of providing the crate with adequate columnar rigidity but which when used together with the other elements of the crate has the requisite vertical rigidity for use in shipment.

Yet another object of the-invention relates to the provision of a shipper composed of metal and non-metallic parts and in which the parts may be readily assembled and disassembled with a minimum amount of labor.

In accordance with the general features of this invention there is provided a shipping crate comprising spaced upper and lower relatively rigid spaced frame members and a wall of fibre, paper, Wood or plastic composition of relatively thin material fastened to said members, the lower of said members having a platform attached thereto to which apparatus to be shipped may be detachably fastened and carried; the members being detachable from said wall for reuse after each shipment and so that the wall may be disposed of without the necessity of returning the same to the shipper.

Another feature of the invention relates to the making of the upper and lower members of the crate in the form of angle iron rings which provide the wall with transverse rigidity.

Another feature of the invention relates to the provision in the foregoing crate of vertical reinforcing means in the form of struts which provide the crate with the requisite columnar rigidity otherwise not present in the wall by itself.

Other objects and features of this invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate several embodiments thereof and in which Figure 1 is a side view of a crate embodying the features of this invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the crate shown in y 2 Figure 1 and illustrating a washing machine inside of the crate;

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view through the crate of Figure 2 and showing a washing machine and wringer in position inside of the crate;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line IVIV of Figure 3 looking downwardly and showing the fastenings for the legs of the washi'ng machine and the location of the wringer with respect thereto;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view partly in section, illustrating how the upper and lower ring members of my novel crate may be assembled in stack formation and fastened together by vertical strut means for reshipment to the shipper;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view through a modified form of wall and rin structure;

on the line VII--VII of Figure 6 looking downwardly;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a still further modified form of wall and ring structure;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line IX-IX of Figure 8 looking downwardly;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view through the lower end of a modified form of shipper showing the bottom ring member in the form of a pan;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a modified form of crate in which steel strap means is employed to secure the upper and lower frame or ring members together instead of vertical struts;

Figure .12 is a fragmentary structure shown on Figure 11;

Figure 13 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating still a further modified form of attachment between an upper frame member and a side wall of the crate;

Figure 14 is a cross-sectional view through still a further modification of the invention showing another form of upper structure for the crate; and

Figure 15 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line XV-XV of Figure l4'looking downwardly.

As shown on the drawings:

The reference characters 10 and H designate upper and lower frame members each of which is preferably of a generally open center construction. These frame members may be made of any side view of the Figure '7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken form of sheet metal such as iron or steel, and each may comprise an annular ring having an angular cross-sectional shape. In other words, each of these rings may be made from angle iron stock so that they are very economical to manufacture.

Connecting these two frame or ring members in and ii is a cylindrical wall which is made of a very inexpensive material such as fibre, paper, wood or plastic composition and which is designated generally by the reference character l2. This wall may be made from ordinary sheet stock out to a predetermined length and formed into a cylinder with the ends suitably lapped or joined together.

While this wall I! has some rigidity, due to its thinness and the character of material of which it is composed, it necessarily does not have the amount of rigidity that would be desired in shipment. For this reason there is provided in addition to the wall a plurality of vertically extending struts l3 all of which are identical in construction. I have found that excellent results may be obtained by employing three of these angular sheet iron struts 13.

Each of these struts l3 has its end offset and secured by bolts [4 to the corresponding ring member Ill-I I. The same bolts and nuts I may be used to fasten the struts and the wall to the ring members l and II. These struts provide the wall with the necessary columnar rigidity so that the crate will resist collapsing in shipment. In addition the ring members In and H provide the wall with transverse rigidity and cooperate with the struts in providing an overall crate which has a very substantial amount of rigidity against collapse in shipment.

In order to enhance the rigidity of the upper ring or frame member ID the same may be provided with a plurality of transverse angle bars l of dlfierent lengths and which have their ends suitably secured to the ring member I0 as by means of welding or the like (Figures 2 and 3).

The bottom ring member ii may likewise be reinforced by a pair of spaced bars i6-l6 the ends of which are suitably secured as by means of welding to the ring ll. These bars are of a more substantial character than the bars I5 and in reality provide a platform to which a piece of apparatus such as a washing machine may be attached. The bars l6 are also reinforced by a crossbar I! (Figure 4) suitably secured as by means of welding to the bars Hi. This crossbar. serves as a support for a wringer as shown in Figures 3 and 4. In these two figures the washing machine is designated generally by the reference character and the wringer is designated generally by the reference character 2|.

The four legs 22 of the washing machine 20 are adapted to be fastened as by means of bolts and nuts 23 to the crossbar iii-l6. To effect this attachment it is, of course, first necessary to remove the usual casters from the legs of the washing machine so that the lower extremity of each leg may thereafter be fiushly bolted firmly in position to the corresponding crossbar.

The wringer 2| may be suitably fastened to the center bar I! as shown in Figure 3 by means of hook bolts 24. Suitable spacers 25 may be used if so desired between the bar I! and the under side of the wringer 2|.

In the actual use of the shipping crate the pieces of apparatus such as the washing machine 20 and the wringer 2| are first fastened to the lower frame member ii in the manner previously described. Thereafter the fiber cylindrical wall I2 is dropped downwardly around the apparatus and the ring In is disposed on the upper edge of the fiber wall. Then the vertical struts II are disposed about the wall and are progressively bolted in place to secure the frame or ring mem" bers l0 and ii and the wall I: together in a unitary rigid assembly.

The disassembly of the device is in exactly the reverse order of that previously described. After the parts have been disconnected the wall may be thrown away as it is a relatively inexpensive item and the frame members l0 and ii together with the struts l3 may be then sent back to the shipper for reuse.

In Figure 5 I have illustrated how the frame members 10 and II may be disposed one upon another in a stacked arrangement or bolted together by strut means such as the strut l3 secured at its ends by means of bolts and nuts ll to the upper and lower ring members. In this stacked arrangement the rings and struts may be economically shipped in compact form back to the shipper.

In Figures 6 and 7 there is illustrated a modified form of the invention wherein an upper ring member 30 has its vertical flange secured to the wall 3| of the crate by means of bolt and nut assemblies 32 which also hold in place a vertical strut 33. In this form as distinguished from the previous one the strut is disposed on the inside of the crate. The bottom ring member which is not illustrated may be of a similar construction to that of the ring member 30 and provided with platform means as previously described in connection with the first form of the invention.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 8 and 9 the frame member 40 has fastened to it the upper margin of the wall ll by means of bolts and nuts 42 which likewise hold in place a vertical channelled strut 43. In this form of the invention the channel strut 43 extends clear to the end of the frame member 40 so as to abut the horizontal flange thereof as is clearly shown in Figure 8.

In Figure 10 I have illustrated a modified form of bottom frame member designated generally by the reference character 50 and to which is bolted a vertical fiber wall 5|. The frame member 50 is in the form of a pan with a peripheral flange secured by bolts and nuts 52 to the lower margin of the fiber wall 5!. The pan has mounted upon it a platform 53 for supporting a piece of apparatus together with a crossbar 54 to which another piece of apparatus such as a wringer may be attached.

It should be noted at this time that in all forms of the invention it is contemplated that the wall shall be made of a relatively frangible material such, for example, as cardboard or fiber, and that the frame members and struts shall-be made of inexpensive metal such as iron or steel.

It should also be noted in connection with Figure 10 that the bottom pan member 50 has suitably secured to it as by means of welding an inner annular ring 55 which is of an angular cross-sectional shape. The lower margin of the tube or wall 5| is clamped between this angle iron 5i and the outer peripheral flange of the pan II.

The modification illustrated in Figures 11 and 12 is distinctly different from that previously described in that instead of using vertical struts there is employed conventional metal strapping such as is available in most manufacturing plants. In this form of the invention the upper and lower frame members 6050 each are of a channelled or U cross-section. The margins of the wall 6| are disposed in the oppositely facing channels of these two members BIL-60.

The outer leg 62 of each of these channels is clips 96 such as is available in most shipping 10 rooms.

By drawing the strapping 65 taut before the clips 55 are mechanically applied thereto, it is possible to tightly secure the upper and lower frame members together in telescoping cooperation' with the vertical tubular wall 6|.

In the modification of Figure 13 the frame member 70 is made up of two concentric spaced angular rings H and 12 suitably welded together at 13. Disposed in the space between these rings is the upper margin of a fiber tube 14 which is bolted to the two rings H and I2 by means of bolt and nut assemblies 15.

In the form of Figures 14 and 15 the ring or frame member 80 is of a channelled or U crosssection and has the upper margin of a fiber tube 8| projected in the channel thereof. Also extending into the channel is the base portion 83 of a channelled strut 84. In order to-enable the base portion 83 of the channel 84 to project into the space of the channelled member 89 the side legs are cut away at 85 just below the edge of the channel member 80.

The strut 84, the wall 8| and the channel member 82 are all tied together by means of bolt assemblies 86.

It is clear from the foregoing that each of the forms of my invention have top and bottom frame members which may be of any one of a number of different constructions. flber cylindrical wall attached at its upper and lower extremities to the frame members by bolts or the like, and in each instance the fiber wall is reinforced by vertical strut means which may be in the form of channel bars or in the form of metal straps such as the straps previously described.

Also it is contemplated that in each form the bottom frame member shall have as an integral part thereof platform means for supporting the 60 apparatus to be shipped and to which the apparatus may be suitably bolted.

All forms of the crate. however, are of the knock-down type and in each instance the metal members may be saved for reshipment to the o5 shipper and in a much more compact form than the crate itself. In each instance the wall is de- Also each form has a 40 6 tachable from the frame members'and may be disposed of without having to be shipped back to the shipper along with the metal parts.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this inventionand it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

A washing machine package comprising :3. casing and a washing machine disposed therein, said casing comprising upper and lower relatively rigid spaced rings, a cylindrical wall of relatively thin disposable material fastened to said rings,

strut means detachably fastened to said ringsv alongside said wall for rigidifying said wall, said rings being detachable from said wall for reuse after each shipment, the lower of said rings having a platform attached thereto, said platform including parallel spaced supports, means securing the legs of the washing machine to said supports, said platform also having a wringer sup- 25 port member extending transversely across and located centrally with respect to said supports and secured thereto, means for detachably securing a wringer element to said wringer support, whereby said wringer support serves to reinforce the bottom of the package and the center of gravity of the package is maintained substantially on its vertical axis and as low as possible.

LEONARD R. COOPER.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 296,737 Ellis Apr. 15, 1884 775,894 Chidister Nov. 22, 1904 1,138,121 Lachman May 4, 1915 1,222,991 Randolph Apr. 17, 1917 1,307,434 Buechler June 24, 1919 1,334,186 Peter Mar. 16 1920 1,428,070 Young Sept. 5, 1922 1,636,223 Freeman July 19, 1927 7 1,731,747 Meyerson Oct. 15, 1929 1,847,110 Holub Mar. 1, 1932 1,951,825 Ferris Mar. 20, 1934 1,995,287 Bass Mar. 26, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 849,261 France I Aug. 11, 1919 

